Ancient Powerpoint Secrets

By Author: Laura Bergells
Total Articles: 2
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Yes, there are ancient PowerPoint secrets...secrets your grandmother knows and
is probably willing to pass down to you. But what's this you say? Your
grandmother has never even heard of Microsoft PowerPoint?
No matter. If your grandma was like mine, she knew something about the power of
an effective presentation.
Ancient PowerPoint Secret #1: A little treat. My grandmother was
the master of what you might call a coffee klatsch...getting people
together to talk and tell stories under the guise of having some sort of treat.
In my grandmother's day, the treat would usually involve meeting over coffee or
tea, and some sort of wonderful, home-baked sweet. And with these coffee
klatsches, Grandma would inform and entertain while developing or
maintaining treasured relationships.
If you're in sales, you can learn a lot about PowerPoint presentations from your
grandma. Chances are, her coffee klatsch objectives probably aren't that
much different than your PowerPoint presentation objectives. Like Grandma, you
want to ...
... inform and entertain your audienceand you'll want to develop and
maintain valuable long-term relationships, as well.
I've given lots of PowerPoint presentations in my day. And I've probably closed
more sales over a box of doughnuts than with any single presentation! How can it
be any wonder that many coffee shops today offer free, open wireless
connections? Coffee shop owners know that during the day, business people often
close deals over coffee and treats. The free wireless access that coffee shops
offer is an inexpensive, effective lure to attract business people. In the same
way, offering your prospects a tasty treat is a friendly, low-cost way to begin
a sales relationship.

 

Ancient PowerPoint Secret #2: A little conversation. In the past
six weeks, I closed three deals in coffee shops. I bought coffee and treats for
my prospects, popped open my notebook computer, and had a conversation (not a
presentation!) about my prospects' needs. Yes, I developed PowerPoint slides for
all three meetings. But I didn't use PowerPoint to present: I used PowerPoint to
guide a conversation.

 

Now, you know that conversations are two-way, interactive forms of personal
communication. But what did your grandmother know? She knew that conversations
can be downright entertaining! And that's yet another ancient PowerPoint secret:
a series of conversations are much more effective than any single presentation
when it comes to building relationships. So instead of building a massive
PowerPoint presentation, why not build a PowerPoint conversation?

 

Here's how: start by listening to your prospect. Conversations are all about
give-and-take, which involves listening, not just talking. Avoid storming into
your first client meeting with an All About Us PowerPoint presentation. Your
grandma wouldn't blab her life story to someone she just met: and neither should
you!

 

Instead, ask questions. Find out about your potential clients' business and what
challenges they might be facing. Have a conversation, not a presentation.

 

Ancient PowerPoint Secret #3: A little more conversation. If you think
your or your company can help your new prospect, ask them if they'd like to meet
you in a few daysfor coffee and treats, of course! Tell your prospect you've
generated some good ideas for their business based on your conversation, but
you'd like a little time to give a little more thought to what they've said.

 

At this point, many sales people give a yelp of protest at this advice. They
want to dive right into their product and services, and fire up their All About
Us presentations right away!

 

But if you want to develop a long-term relationship, slow down! Give it some
thought! By telling a new prospect that you've listened to what they said and
that you want to think about it, you're showing them that you respect their
ideas. That's flattering stuff. And by asking for a second meeting, you've also
assumed the close. In this case, the close is simply a second meeting.

 

And of course, your prospects will definitely want to talk to you again!
Everyone loves a good listener. Plus, your new prospects will want to hear the
big payoff from investing in their first meeting with you. And guess what? By
slowing things down, you've favorably predisposed your prospects into liking
what you have to say. Why? Because if they're busy, they're thinking
subconsciously, Now, why am I meeting with this person again? I know, the
pastries are good, but that's not the real reason, although I sure would like
another one sometime soon. Oh, I know why -- it's probably because I like this
person. I'm sure I'll like her products, too.  Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed
to meet with her again!

 

So ask for a second meeting and go home. Go back to your office. Armed with the
information you've gleaned from careful questioning and listening to your
prospects' concerns, you can custom-build a PowerPoint conversation that's All
About Them. This is way more effective than the typical All About Us
presentation.

 

And remember, Grandma didn't have any use for bullet points! Bullets are for
shooting people, and pointing is bad manners! So when you develop your
PowerPoint conversation, remember what Grandma really loved: relevant,
entertaining, illustrative stories. Make sure you tell a few good stories
to your client in every conversation. Bullets can injure and kill: but a good
story can really help you sell!

 

Put it all together  A little coffee, a little treat, a little
conversation: that's the essence of beginning and developing an ongoing customer
connection. A series of conversations over delightful treats can set a beautiful
stage for building a long-term business or personal relationship. This approach
is much better than plunking down a notebook computer filled with fancy
graphics, animations, and sound effects. You may kid yourself that PowerPoint's
technical eye candy can take the place of Grandma's penchant for telling
entertaining stories over coffee and cake - but it isn't.  You only get to build
strong relationships over time, so put away your hard-sell PowerPoint
presentation slides.and grab a cookie!
About the Author Laura Bergells is a writer, speaker, and internet marketing consultant from Grand Rapids, Michigan.